Sensing devices are often used to detect the presence of substances ranging from common substances (for example, medical drugs, perfumes, allergens), to illegal substances (for example, narcotics and drugs), to dangerous or threat substances (for example, explosives, chemical warfare agents, bio warfare agents). Due to wide-spread threats and illicit substances and their continuously changing characteristics there is a need for a miniaturized, low cost and high-performance sensing device, especially for detection of trace or residue threat materials. The ease of adaptation or integration with other systems, including platforms and other sensing devices, are also needed for operational effectiveness. Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) is widely used as a robust trace detection device. Existing devices suffer from many problems including performance, size, cost, and ease of use. Low-cost, high-performance and miniaturized IMS will make a major impact in the utility of this sensing modality and significantly enhance its application effectiveness.